Latest news with #war crime
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Israel lashes out at 'cynical' Gaza famine claims and releases video of food trucks as more than 100 international aid groups warn of 'mass starvation'
Israeli officials have claimed Hamas is responsible for fabricating 'cynical' reports of mass starvation in Gaza despite warnings from the United Nations and more than a hundred international NGOs that Palestinians are beginning to die of hunger. Gaza's population of more than two million people is facing severe shortages of food and other essentials after some 21 months of war - particularly after Israel enacted a more than two-month-long blockade of the embattled Strip from March until May. The UN in June condemned Israel's 'weaponisation of food' in Gaza and called it a war crime, and on Monday, the UK, France and more than twenty other Western-aligned countries issued labelling Israel's operations 'unacceptable'. Then on Tuesday, the UN's human rights office reported Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food at aid distribution points since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started its operations in late May. GHF rejected what it said were 'false and exaggerated statistics' from the United Nations. That was followed this morning by the publication of an open letter signed by some 111 aid agencies, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Oxfam, warning that 'mass starvation' was spreading in Gaza. In response, an Israeli security official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Times of Israel that the Israeli Defence Forces 'have not identified starvation (in Gaza) at this current point in time' and accused Hamas of peddling starvation rumours as part of a pressure tactic amid the ongoing hostage negotiations. 'This is a cynical and timed move aimed at creating international pressure on Israel,' the official said, as an IDF spokesperson released footage of what he said was 950 food trucks parked in Gaza. Today's statement, signed by 111 international organisations, declared that Gazans were 'wasting away' due to the lack of nourishment after 21 months of war. 'With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes. 'The government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death,' it read. Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid. It has also accused the UN and international NGOs of not distributing aid appropriately. Earlier this week, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) - an Israeli military body responsible for organising aid deliveries to Gaza - said that some 950 trucks worth of supplies are waiting on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. IDF Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani shared a clip to social media that purported to show the trucks and large quantities of aid waiting in Gaza, declaring that it was up to 'international organisations' to pick up and distribute the aid to civilians. The UN claims that COGAT refuses its requests to access and distribute the aid, pointing out that any aid convoys that do not have hard-to-obtain approvals come under fire from the IDF. It comes after the US- and Israeli-backed GHF took control of aid delivery operations in late May after Israel lifted its months-long blockade of the Gaza Strip. Reports from eyewitnesses and Gaza's civil defence agency, as well as several video clips shared to social media, have provided evidence of Palestinians being shot at as they crush into GHF-administered distribution points. Of the 1,054 people killed while trying to get food since late May, 766 were killed while heading to GHF sites, according to the UN human rights office, which said it compiled the figures from various on-the-ground sources and aid organisations. The report from the UN came after 28 Western-aligned countries, including the UK, condemned in a joint statement what they called the 'drip feeding of aid' to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was 'horrifying' that they had been killed while seeking aid. 'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' the countries' foreign ministers said in a joint statement. 'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.' Israel and the United States rejected the statement, blaming Hamas for prolonging the war by not accepting Israeli terms for a ceasefire and the release of hostages abducted in the militant-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas has said it will release the remaining hostages only in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Israel says it will keep fighting until Hamas has been defeated or disarmed. The UN claims that COGAT refuses its requests to access and distribute the aid currently waiting in Gaza, pointing out that any aid convoys that do not have hard-to-obtain approvals come under fire from the IDF The director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, told AFP reporters on Tuesday that almost two dozen children had been recorded dead due to starvation in the past three days. 'Twenty-one children have died due to malnutrition and starvation in various areas across the Gaza Strip,' Mohammed Abu Salmiya said, adding that new cases of severe malnutrition were arriving at Gaza's remaining functioning hospitals 'every moment'. Later Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Gaza a 'horror show' with 'a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times'. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, said the total number of deaths from starvation in the past three days was counted at 101 people, including 80 children, but these statistics could not be verified. Israel does not allow international press into Gaza, but some media organisations have struck freelance deals with Palestinian journalists to cover the ongoing war inside the embattled territory. AFP is currently working with four Pulitzer prize-nominated photographers inside Gaza, but the team say it has been forced to scale back its coverage due to the lack of food. Bashar Taleb, 35, lives in the bombed-out ruins of his home in Jabalia al-Nazla, in northern Gaza. 'I've had to stop working multiple times just to search for food for my family and loved ones,' he said. 'I feel for the first time utterly defeated emotionally. 'I've tried so much, knocked on many doors to save my family from starvation, constant displacement and persistent fear but so far to no avail.' Khadr Al-Zanoun, 45, in Gaza City, said: 'Since the war began, I've lost about 30 kilos (66 pounds) and become skeletal compared to how I looked before the war,' he said. And Eyad Baba, 47, who lived in Rafah before being displaced to a refugee camp, said: 'I can no longer bear the hunger. Hunger has reached my children and has shaken my resolve. 'We've psychologically endured every kind of death during our press coverage. Fear and the sense of looming death accompany us wherever we work or live.' Amid the reports that journalists were risking starvation, AFP called on Israel to allow the immediate evacuation of its freelance contributors and their families from the Gaza Strip. In a statement, the French news agency said its freelancers faced an 'appalling situation' in Gaza. 'For months, we have been witnessing, powerless, the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions,' AFP said, adding that the situation had become untenable despite the 'exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience' of its local team.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘Starvation is a war crime', UN expert blasts Israel
'Starvation is a war crime', UN expert blasts Israel NewsFeed The famine we're seeing in Gaza now is the most horrific stage of Israel's starvation campaign, a UN expert on food has told Al Jazeera. He's calling on countries to stop Israel starving Palestinians to death. Video Duration 01 minutes 58 seconds 01:58 Video Duration 01 minutes 24 seconds 01:24 Video Duration 00 minutes 38 seconds 00:38 Video Duration 00 minutes 44 seconds 00:44 Video Duration 00 minutes 37 seconds 00:37 Video Duration 01 minutes 46 seconds 01:46 Video Duration 01 minutes 24 seconds 01:24
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
GCC calls Israel's collective starvation of Gazans a 'full-fledged war crime'
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) denounced the "continued unjust, inhumane, and illegal siege imposed by Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip and their prevention of the entry of all forms of humanitarian aid." Preventing entry of aid has led to a "worsening humanitarian catastrophe," with famine spreading, and food and medical supplies depleted. This is a "flagrant violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, human rights principles, and is in clear defiance of the international community," said Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC. The GCC said the "Israeli occupation authorities are fully responsible for the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in the Gaza Strip," including the policy of collective starvation pursued against residents in Gaza. "This constitutes a full-fledged war crime that requires urgent accountability from the international community," Albudaiwi stressed. The GCC Secretary-General also called on the international community to take immediate and serious action to stop this brutal siege, and halt killing and starvation. He stressed the need to open the crossings to ensure the entry of urgent humanitarian aid and save lives. Albudaiwi also reiterated the firm position of the GCC states in supporting the "legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them their right to a dignified life, freedom, and self-determination". He also expressed the need to achieve a just and lasting peace in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
